Immigration

Mr. Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full time immigration officers will be working at the Port of Felixstowe after 1 July. [69983]

Beverley Hughes:
The port of Felixstowe will not close, from an immigration point of view, until a new office at or near Ipswich has been established. The four immigration officers currently employed at Felixstowe have been transferred to Harwich on 14 July 2002. Asylum screening will continue to be carried out at Felixstowe until the new facility at Ipswich is operational. Whilst screening is conducted one immigration officer per day will attend Felixstowe from Harwich.

Mr. Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which immigration office will administer the Port of Felixstowe after 1 July. [69982]

24 Sept 2002 : Column 446W

Beverley Hughes:
Felixstowe has always been administered from the East Anglia Headquarters at Harwich and this will continue to be the case.

Mr. Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if immigration officers will provide a 24-hour presence at the Port of Felixstowe after 1 July. [69972]

Beverley Hughes:
Felixstowe staff did not provide a 24-hour service at the Port. The period from 2100 to 0700 was covered by officers based at Harwich. Staff from Harwich will now provide remote cover for the full 24-hours attending when required.

UK Nationals (Zimbabwe)

Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many United Kingdom nationals resident in Zimbabwe have returned to the United Kingdom to settle in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [69789]

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Beverley Hughes:
The requested information is not available.

It is not possible to measure how many United Kingdom nationals resident in Zimbabwe have returned to the United Kingdom to settle. As holders of British passports, United Kingdom nationals are free to enter, and to remain in, the United Kingdom without requiring leave to do so they are not subject to immigration controls.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Ann McKechin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to improve the service offered by the Public Inquiry Office of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at Croydon. [72009]

Beverley Hughes:
The aim is to improve substantially the service to the Public Enquiry Office callers and as far as possible reduce the waiting time and long queues.

The Public Enquiry Office Croydon is currently in the process of recruiting an additional team of 17 staff, increasing its same day service capabilities. There are plans to rebuilt the entrance into Lunar House to provide better access to all of those who need to come to Croydon. It is hoped that building work may commence towards the end of this year. Moreover the Public Enqiry Office has improved its signage and website information so that callers are more informed of the service provided and all of the other options available to them.

Asylum

Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason Mr. Mohammed Mahmood of Southend, reference M1051379, has not been notified of the outcome of his asylum application; and if he will make a statement. [72157]

Beverley Hughes:
I regret that remedial action following the discovery of the existence of a double file has delayed formal notification of the decision in this case. I will write to the hon. Member to explain the present position.

Foreign Students

Mr. Weir:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review regulations relating to the employment of foreign students as seasonal workers in agriculture. [73054]

Beverley Hughes:
Paragraphs 10409 of the Immigration Rules (HC395) provide for the entry and employment of foreign students under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). The recent Home Office White Paper "Secure Borders, Safe Haven" signalled, in paragraph 3.25, our intention to review the operation of this scheme. A consultation document was published on 29 May 2002, is available on the Home Office website and has been sent to a wide range of organisations with an interest in the scheme. In addition, officials have held meetings with key stakeholder groups. The consultation ended on 23 August 2002. Any changes to the scheme resulting from the consultation will be announced in due course.

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Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of his 200203 Departmental Expenditure Limit had been spent by 31 May; what the figures were for 200102; and if he will make a statement. [61753]

Beverley Hughes:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 11 July 2002, Official Report, column 1197W.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Rape

Mr. Gale:
To ask the Solicitor-General what proportion of allegations of rape made to the police were brought to trial by the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last five years. [68798]

The Solicitor-General [holding answer 15 July 2002]: There are no wholly reliable or national figures which touch on the precise statistics that the hon. Member seeks.

Some information about the extent to which reported cases reach trial may be found in the Report on the Joint Inspection into the Investigation and prosecution of cases involving Allegations of rape, published in April 2002 by HMCPSI and HMIC. The Inspection included examination of a sample of 1,741 reported complaints of rape. The offender was charged in 467 of these cases. Therefore, of the 1,741 reports of rape, some 26 per cent. resulted in a charge or summons.

The Inspectorates' analysis does not show how many of those 467 prosecutions proceeded to trial or to guilty plea. However, the Inspectorates' Report also analysed 88 rape cases that did proceed to court. Of these 88, approximately 56 per cent. proceeded to trial (35 defendants were found not guilty after a trial and 14 were convicted after a trial). A further 39 defendants, or approximately 44 per cent. pleaded guilty without the need for a trial, which amounts to a conviction rate (including guilty pleas and those convicted after a trial) of 60.8 per cent.

The 1,741 crime reports were drawn from ten Police Forces, and the 88 rape cases that proceeded to court were drawn from nine of these ten Police Forces. The cases were initially recorded as rape for the period 31 December 2000 or before (each Police Force was asked to provide up to a specified number of cases). In view of the limited nature of the file sample, it would be unwise to extrapolate national statistics from these figures.

I take very seriously the need to ensure that all parts of the criminal justice system adopt best practice when dealing with rape cases. In response to the Thematic Review, the Crown Prosecution Service, Home Office and Court Service have drawn up an Action Plan to improve practice in the investigation and prosecution of offenders, and to ensure better treatment of victims and witnesses. The Plan was published on 22 July.

Mr. Gale:
To ask the Solicitor-General what proportion of rape cases brought to trial by the Crown Prosecution Service resulted in the conviction of the accused in each of the last five years. [68799]

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The Solicitor-General [holding answer 15 July 2002]: The answer is set out at the table attached. The figures include guilty pleas and convictions after trial. The data for 2001 will not be available until Autumn this year.

Persons(1) tried for rape(2) at the Crown Court and numbers and proportion found guilty

England and Wales, 1996 to 2000

Persons tried(1)

Persons found guilty

Proportion found guilty

1996

1,125

575

51%

1997

1,249

615

49%

1998

1,518

674

44%

1999

1,464

654

45%

2000

1,373

593

43%

(1)Principal offence basis.

(2)Rape of a female and rape of a male.

(3)Persons for trial excluding those not tried.

Source:

Home Office.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

EU Committees

(Scottish Executive Representation)

Angus Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the EU Committee on economic outward-processing arrangements for textiles is next due to meet; whether representatives of the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [70916]

Stephen Timms:
There are currently no plans for this Committee to meet. There have been no representatives of the Scottish Executive on this Committee in the past. A Department of Trade and Industry Official has represented the UK.

Somalia

John Barrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the supply of military equipment to Somalia from the UK. [68820]

Nigel Griffiths:
Companies exporting arms and other items controlled for strategic reasons from the UK to Somalia require an export licence from the Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation.

In line with United Nations (UN) sanctions, no exports of military equipment to Somalia are permitted apart from items of humanitarian end-use approved by the UN Sanctions Committee. UNSCR 733 (1992) imposed an arms embargo on Somalia covering "all deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Somalia until the Council decides otherwise". UNSCR 1356 (2001) amended the scope of the embargo to allow the export of humanitarian exports and protective clothing approved by

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the UN Sanctions Committee. UNSCR 1425 (2002) widened the scope of the embargo to prohibit "the direct or indirect supply to Somalia of technical advice, financial and other assistance, and training related to military activities."

All relevant export licence applications for Somalia are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria and the UN arms embargo; taking into account the particular circumstances prevailing at the time and other relevant previously announced Government policies.